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U.S. Capitol

The United States Capitol after the burning of Washington, D.C. in the War of 1812. Watercolor and ink depiction from 1814, restored.

The Capitol was, according to some contemporary travelers, the only building in Washington “worthy to be noticed”. Thus, it was a prime target for the British invaders, both for its aesthetic and symbolic value. Upon arrival in the city via Maryland Avenue, the British targeted the Capitol (first southern wing of the House of Representatives, then the northern wing of the Senate). Prior to setting the building aflame, the British looted the wings of the building (consisting of both houses of Congress, the Library of Congress, and the Supreme Court). Included in the items looted by British General Sir George Cockburn was “An account of the receipts and expenditures of the United States for the year 1810 .

Although intending to burn the entire building to the ground, the British set fire to the southern wing before the northern wing, and the proceeding fire inhibited the British from being able to collect enough wood to burn the stone walls completely. However, the Library of Congress’ location in the northern wing contributed to the flames on that side. Among the destruction was the 3,000-volume collection of the Library of Congress and the intricate decorations of the neoclassical columns, pediments, and sculptures originally designed by William Thornton in 1793 and Benjamin Latrobe in 1803. The wooden ceilings and floors burned, and the glass skylights melted because of the intense heat of the flames. As a result, the Capitol was left a fraction of what it once was. Among the areas that survived was the House rotunda, the east lobby, the staircases, and Latrobe’s famous Corn-Cob Columns in the Senate entrance hall. The Superintendent of the Public Buildings of the City of Washington, Thomas Munroe, assessed the damage and concluded that the loss to the Capitol amounted to $787,163.28, with $457,388.36 for the North wing and main building, and $329, 774.92 for the South wing.

Reconstruction

The Old Brick Capitol serving as a prison during the Civil War

Although the President and military officers returned to Washington only a few days after the British left, Congress did not return for three and half weeks . The Thirteenth Congress officially came together on September 19, 1814 at the Blodgett’s Hotel, one of the few surviving buildings large enough to hold all members. At the time, the Blodgett's Hotel also housed the U. S. Patent Office. Although the British had destroyed all public buildings, the Blodgett's Hotel and U.S. Patent Office was spared. It was in this building that Congress met between September 1814 and December 1815 (when construction of the Old Brick Capitol was complete).

There was a movement in Congress to relocate the capital after the burning. Congressmen from the North pushed for relocation to Philadelphia and other prominent Union cities, while Southern congressmen claimed that moving the capital would degrade the American sense of dignity and strength (however many southern congressmen simply did not want to move the capital above the Mason-Dixon line). On September 21, 1815, the House of Representatives voted to strike down a proposal to relocate the capital from Washington, D. C. by a margin of 83 to 54. On February 3, 1815, in an effort to guarantee that the federal government always remain in the area, Washington property owners funded the building of the Old Brick Capitol, a larger meeting space where the Supreme Court now stands. The Old Brick Capitol was funded primarily through the sale of stocks, costing $25,000. The largest of donors was Daniel Carroll of Duddington, a rich property owner in the area. The construction began on July 4, 1814 and concluded in December 1815. Congress met in the Old Brick Capitol between December 1815 and December 1819, when the Capitol reopened.

The Capitol reconstruction took much longer than anticipated. The Old Brick Capitol took only five months to complete; the Capitol took twelve years. A committee appointed by Congress to investigate the damage to the District concluded that it was cheaper to rebuild the already existing and slightly damaged building than to build an entirely new one. On February 13, 1815, President Madison and Congress passed legislation to borrow $500,000 to repair the public buildings, including the Capitol, “on their present sites in the city of Washington”. Benjamin Latrobe, architect of the Capitol who took over for William Thornton in 1803, was rehired to repair the building on April 18, 1815. He immediately requested 60,000 feet of boards, 500 tons of stone, 1,000 barrels of lime, and brick. With the $500,000 borrowed from Washington banks, Latrobe was able to rebuild the two wings and the central dome before being fired in 1818 for being difficult to work with. Charles Bulfinch took over in the same year and officially completed the renovations by 1826. Bulfinch modified Latrobe’s design by increasing the height of the Capitol dome to match the diameter of 86ft, which is only a fraction of the 288-foot dome of today’s Capitol. With the reconstruction of the public buildings in Washington, the value of land in the area increased dramatically, paving the way for the expansion of the city that developed in the years leading up to the Civil War.